Climate-proofing a nuclear plant

This roundup of energy news headlines comes from our Midwest Energy News newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning.

NUCLEAR

• NextEra Energy plans to make improvements to the original design of an Iowa nuclear plant that closed in 2020 following damage from a major storm as it looks to restart the facility. (Inside Climate News)

• ComEd customers in Illinois will receive $803 million in bill credits early next year as a result of federal production tax credits the utility leveraged from nuclear plants that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act. (E&E News)

RENEWABLES

• Leasing property for renewable energy projects has allowed Indiana farmers to diversify and grow their income, which has become increasingly important since the pandemic as costs rise. (Pharos Tribune)

SOLAR

• Residents in a rural West Michigan county push back on plans for a commercial 200 MW solar project over concerns about losing prime farmland as the developer promises more than $30 million in property taxes. (MLive)

• A coalition of 143 solar companies and industry representatives call on Congress to override a Trump administration policy that they say threatens hundreds of solar projects that touch land managed by the Interior Department. (E&E News)

• Residents and local officials scrutinize plans for a 5 MW solar installation on city-owned land in central Wisconsin. (Wisconsin Rapids Tribune)

• An Indiana Republican state senator will propose legislation to limit solar development to land zoned commercial or industrial as a way to prevent projects on farmland. (Journal Gazette)

GRID

• Congress members want assurances that electronics manufacturer Foxconn’s pivot to building data centers in Wisconsin doesn’t overburden the power grid or force ratepayers to cover necessary infrastructure upgrades. (Wisconsin Watch)

UTILITIES

• A small northern Michigan utility must issue $645,000 in bill credits to customers who experienced prolonged outages during an ice storm earlier this year after initially trying to dodge the requirement. (MLive)

• While South Dakota residents pay some of the lowest utility bills in the country, costs have climbed year over year amid rising natural gas prices. (Argus Leader)

COMMENTARY

• Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s embrace of data center developments is a departure from previous policy stances that protect the public and environment, an editor writes. (Michigan Advance)

• Shutting down Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac means investing in Michigan’s workforce to build and maintain modern energy infrastructure that would create true energy independence, a pipeline opponent writes. (Michigan Advance)

NEW FROM CANARY

• Duke Energy wants to spend on battery incentives to save on power plants — Elizabeth Ouzts

• A major networked geothermal project gets underway in Connecticut — Sarah Shemkus

• Trump admin invests $800M in latest move to bolster US nuclear industry — Alexander C. Kaufman

• Delayed heating assistance kicks off a winter of energy challenges — Kathryn Krawczyk

• First utility-owned geothermal network to double in size with DOE funds — Phil McKenna